So I've Heard You're A Hero
by NeverMore34
Summary: Hal Peterson, dear friend to Mina Ashido and Eijiro Kirishima, disappeared years before their junior high years together. Now, in U.A, after fulfilling Ojiro's burning question, Mina has a chance to reconcile with her long lost friend. Just a little MHA fanfiction that I thought of for a while. Updated may not be structured, but I'll try to keep this one alive cause I'm invested.


So I've Heard You're A Hero.

A Burning Question.

Generations upon generations stapled in the tradition of passing down the practice of martial arts, the Mashirao have forged a name for themselves in the stones of time to be remembered throughout the centuries to come. Of course, their fame was nowhere near the insurmountable recognition of the Todoroki or Yaoyorozu households as hand to hand combat has become less of a widespread practice and more like an unnecessary career choice in the modern age of absurd superpowers. However, amongst those who staid in the practice of martial arts, the Mashirao was a well-known name.

And by proxy, as someone hailing from this very household, Ojiro Masahiro, while as humble as humble can get, considered himself of a connoisseur when it comes to recognizing the many martial arts in the world. From Taekwondo to Hapkido and everything in between and everything beyond, even if the amount of time training under these forms were 5 months at the very least.

It is for this reason, that ever since the All-Might's Battle Trial assignment, the tailed Hero-in-training has been plagued by the puzzle that was Mina Ashido's method of combat. Of course, being the acrobatic and sporadic student that she was, it was clear that she would be an effective fighter, with or without the help of her acid Quirk. And many students were ready to chalk it up to simply that after witnessing what she was capable of. But Ojiro could spot small traces of specialized training in her movements.

Of course, after hearing his thoughts on the matter, the rest of the students thought of the evidence given to them and they were forced to agree. Even Bakugo could agree that she had some sort of secret that they knew not of. This consensus was further strengthened after Class 1-A's domination match against Mirio Togata, Mina again displayed traces of martial arts training in her, but due to how little and sparse they were, no one, not even Ojiro, couldn't come to a valid conclusion.

"Hey Ojiro, want to spar?"

The student in question, having been caught off guard by the inquiry, was close to declining the pinkette's offer for a sparring match before common sense stopped him. It was at this moment that he realized, if he ever desired to find out the truth to Mina's secret, then the greatest means of going about this is to enter direct combat with the source of his confusion. Afterall, his grandfather continuously stressed that only through combat can two warriors understand each other.

*SLAM*

And as he laid on the floor, soundly defeated by the acidic Hero-in-training, everything became clear. A sense of revelation and shame rushed over him as his eyes were opened, literally.

"That was pretty fun."

He looked at the extended hand of sportsmanship, taking it without a second thought as his fellow classmate helped him to his feet. He chuckled awkwardly, scratching the back of his head in bashful embarrassment.

"You're really strong Mina, stronger than I thought." He complimented, earning him a rough pat on the back.

The tailed student, not expecting such force from the pinkette, nearly tumbled forward. "And you're not half bad yourself, coming from the Mashirao family." She returned the favor.

His face lit up, hearing his family's name mentioned. "You know my family?" He inquired.

She nodded, sitting down on a bench. "Yup, any martial artists worth their salt knows the Mashirao name. It's like peanut butter and jelly." She confirmed.

Hearing her mention the phrase 'martial artists' sparked the curiosity in him once more. "Something's been bothering me for a long while, but now I need closure: you practice Taekwondo & Muay Thai, right?" He questioned her.

A large, almost infectious, smile spread across her face as she sprung up and embraced the fair-skinned student in an honestly crushing hug. "Finally you've got it! Well, not exactly, but you got it!" She exclaimed, hopping around, her arms still tightly around her male student. "Gee wiz, you'd think you would've got it by now." Her face transformed into what could only be described as a playful pout.

When he felt her grip loosen, he pushed her away, taking a few steps backward to ensure such a platonic gesture wouldn't repeat itself again. "What do you mean 'not exactly'?" He asked her.

She sat back on the bench, taking a swig of her water before answering. "An old friend of mine was a martial arts nerd, knew almost everything, I just kind of picked up on it and copied some of it." She explained, which was well within the realm of possibility as he has heard of that happening before.

"And this friend? Was he friends with Kirishima too?" His inquiry was valid for the artificial redhead, while just as reckless and bashful as his skin is hard, showcased small traces of boxing and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

She confirmed his suspicion with a nod. "Yep, his name's Hal; me, him, and Kirishima were the best of friends all throughout kindergarten all the way to the beginning of junior high." She stood up once more, pacing around the gym slowly. "I remember so much; how we met; it was a snowy day and he was all on his own. One snowball led to another and next thing you know, we're huddling around a fire drinking hot chocolate." She sighed solemnly. "He always wanted to be a Hero…" She trailed off.

Ojiro, realizing that he may have stepped on some unsavory memories, cleared his throat. "I'm sorry for your loss." He apologizes.

She turned to him with a quizzical look, clearly not understanding why he'd recited a line one would save after hearing a loved one has kicked the bucket, only to laugh seconds later. "He's not dead; he's Quirkless!" She exclaimed in between laughs.

An embarrassed blush engulfed the fair-skinned student's face, realizing that he jumped to a hasty conclusion and was being chastised for it, albeit in a humorous way. He opened his mouth to retort, only for her to cut him off.

"It caused him a lot of grief if anything, being a son of two Heroes, it seemed everything came crashing down when it was revealed he was Quirkless." She turned to her tailed companion, solemn sadness flickering in her eyes. "He still tried to be Hero, but not only did his family give up on him, everyone made fun of him for his 'foolish dreams', but not us, we stuck by him, and even when he tried deserting us, we made sure he knew we were his friends." The smell of burning plastic filled the vicinity, Ojiro finding out that the source was the plastic water bottle suffering under her acidic powers. "But it seems like he did what he set out to do… all those years ago." She could hardly look her classmate in the eye.

Ojiro was, for lack of a better word, at a loss for words. He had never seen this side of the normally bubbly and hyperactive Heroin-in-training before, making sure he understood just how damaging this experience has been.

"What happened?" He knew asking her may have been a dangerous endeavor, but the both of them knew how important it was she allowed this off her chest. Plus, he was just darn curious.

"One day, he dropped all contact and just disappeared, never seen again." She said, looking away. "We tried reaching out to him, everybody did – even his parents if you could believe it – but it was impossible: it was like he pulled the greatest magic trick of all… and the cruelest."

Ojiro was no fool and could see as clear as day that Mina may have had feelings for the boy. "So, this Hal, you liked him a lot, did you?" He asked.

She nodded. "Any girl who looked past his Quirkless-ness did, there was just an undying enthusiasm about him that made any situation bright and add onto the fact that he was a quick thinker and maybe a bit too overanalytical." She chuckled, a thought coming to mind. "Come to think of it, he kind of remind of Midoriya." She admitted.

He could sympathize, as even if he's only ever known of this person's existence till now, everything she's said was like a vocal mirror of the emerald smasher, something the boy in question could definitely sympathize and understand. But as he was mulling over what she said, something popped into his mind. "Wait… you said his name was Hal, right?" He inquired

She gave him another quizzical look, unsure what he was reaching at with this inquiry. "Yeah, I did, his full name's Hal Parker." She replied.

Ojiro nodded, his suspicions confirmed. "I'm not sure if this is the same person, but there's someone in America named Hal Parker; he's an up and coming baseball player in the High School Leagues." He could see the light of hope shine in her eyes, only to be overshadowed by the darkness of doubt.

For the second time that day, the tailed student was under the mercy of Mina's surprisingly strop grip, this time, the exchange was less affectionate and more desperate. "Really?! Show me a picture right now!" She demanded.

Luckily for him, he did not have to break away from this miniature Amazon in training as she released him herself, allowing him to fish out his phone from his bag and look up her old friend. "Here." He didn't even need to hand her the phone before she snatched it out of his hand and looked at the pictures.

Almost immediately, she felt her knees weaken as the undoubtedly familiar face and head of red hair were hallmarks of her once disappeared friend. She barely suppressed a tear before entering full Midoriya-mode and began researching everything about Hal Parker, sending every relevant document to herself and even all his social media accounts. Just watching it felt like an eternity, the determination burning in her eyes infecting Ojiro as he subconsciously began to hope she required the information she so desired.

"YES!" She rejoiced in happiness, giving her friend his phone back before enveloping him in yet another crushing embrace. "Thank you thank you thank you!" She thanked him over and over again, pulling him away, her infectious smile making him smile. "Now we can catch up and everything!" She turned around, hastily tapping away at her phone, presumably contacting Hal through the use of social media.

Ojiro could only allow for a sense of pride to well up inside of him: not only has he discovered the honestly easy mystery of Mina's fighting style, but he has also inadvertently set in motion the reunion of two long lost friends. Today had been a good day when it started, now, it was a momentous day.


End file.
